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The foreign words that seem like English, but aren't

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Re: The foreign words that seem like English, but aren't

#61

Post by ekianjo »

_nalply wrote: post #59
byoung2 wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In Quebec they literally have a french word to replace all common english expressions and prevent borrowing. I met some ladies from Quebec while in France, and they were horrified at how tainted the French spoken by the natives had become. They said at one point they just started speaking exclusively in English because they couldn't stand hearing French butchered by the natives. It's apparently a common phenomenon th…

They would have died on the spot if they went to Acadia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiac

Wow I did not know about that. The example sentences are hilarious!

Re: The foreign words that seem like English, but aren't

#62

Post by vacri »

GuiA wrote: post #33
vacri wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Japanese even has an entire alphabet just for loanwords (katakana)

For non Japanese practicers who are curious: katakana is not used just for loan words. It is also used for some names, onomatopoeias, to make text stand out (the way we might use all caps/italics), some scientific terminology, etc.

I stand corrected - I only did Japanese in high school, and that's how we were taught. My mistake.

Re: The foreign words that seem like English, but aren't

#63

Post by Grue3 »

Eric_WVGG wrote: post #30

Japanese word for "blue" is apparently "boo-roo" “The Japanese language has no exact word for the color blue. The term the Japanese use, ao, is ambiguous – best translated as blue-green. Ao has the connotations of immaturity and inexperience that the English word green has. When the Japanese wish to be exact – when describing the color of Siamese cats' eyes, for example – they will sometimes resort to the English wor…

水色 is blue. I have never seen ブルー being used.

Re: The foreign words that seem like English, but aren't

#64

Post by glandium »

Grue3 wrote: post #63
Eric_WVGG wrote: post #30

Japanese word for "blue" is apparently "boo-roo" “The Japanese language has no exact word for the color blue. The term the Japanese use, ao, is ambiguous – best translated as blue-green. Ao has the connotations of immaturity and inexperience that the English word green has. When the Japanese wish to be exact – when describing the color of Siamese cats' eyes, for example – they will sometimes resort to the English wor…

水色 is blue. I have never seen ブルー being used.

水色 is one kind of color blue. ブルー is used for another kind of color blue, or for a broader spectrum of blue (it's also used for melancholia).

Re: The foreign words that seem like English, but aren't

#65

Post by glandium »

ekianjo wrote: post #18
raldi wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Like "Italian sauce", the (often quite tasty and authentic) tomato-based dressing they put on their spaghetti.

They also have "french dressing" a generic white sauce for salads that we dont even use in France.

Or "french toast". Or "french fries" (well, we have fries in France, but they come from Belgium).

Re: The foreign words that seem like English, but aren't

#68

Post by bryanlarsen »

skykooler wrote: post #35

Reminds me of "handy", the German word for "cell phone". My German friend said "we just use the English word for that." I have yet to find an English speaker who calls a mobile phone a "handy".

Japan had several cell phone networks using an alternative to GSM called the Personal Handy-phone System. This was an urban only network with extremely small cells that let them make ridiculously small and inexpensive phones.

Re: The foreign words that seem like English, but aren't

#69

Post by maxerickson »

LyndsySimon wrote: post #54
maxerickson wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"tennis shoe" has a pretty generic meaning in the US also.

Apparently that's quite regional. I was corrected a few weeks ago because I called a pair of cross-trainers "tennis shoes" - where that person was from "tennis shoes" is much more specific than I understand it.

Yep.

http://www4.uwm.edu/FLL/linguistics/dialect/staticmaps/q_73....

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